Lost in translation

As a radical chancellor in 1910, Lloyd George introduced redistributive direct taxation, welfare provision for the poor, the old and the sick, children's allowances and public spending on "national development" to expand employment. As a rightwing chancellor in 2010, Osborne introduced a class budget designed to achieve the exact opposite. It has been endorsed by the spineless Lib Dem members of a coalition which the Guardian supports. So, in 100 years, we have moved from "rare and refreshing fruit" to a load of bananas. No wonder your leader writer (Editorial, 25 June) does not even know where Lloyd George was born.

Kenneth Morgan

Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire

• To combine the messages of two editorials (Radio 4 all; Unthinkable? More foreign voices, 19 June), the BBC could drop its obsession with all things US. Drop Americana and use the slot to give people from across the world a chance to balance From Our Own Correspondent.

Ed Wilson

Stockport, Cheshire

• Comic Sans font has one great advantage over many of the fonts all too evidently beloved by your designers (Letters, 22 June): you can read it easily - unlike what I call Faint or Fairy font, an example of which can be seen in the headline on the article about Trinny and Susanna (G2, 21 June). If I were editor, my message would be: don't be clever. Be clear. And to that end, above all, avoid pale pink.

Lynne Reid Banks

London

• Roger Perry (Letters, 24 June) errs in suggesting that William the Conqueror and his armies "were no more French than the Anglo-Saxons". While the Dukedom of Normandy was established by Scandinavian adventurers, William spoke French rather than Danish and was a vassal of the king of France. Moreover, his army at Hastings included Frenchmen alongside Normans, Bretons and Flemings. Yes, he was Norman French, but he was still French.